Last night’s American Idol was fun, and not because the final five all sang songs by the king of karaoke, Neil Diamond. No, last night was fun because it featured the return of crazy, confused Paula Abdul. I’ve missed her this season!

Last night’s episode of American Idol was almost a disappointment—Andrew Lloyd Weber was the mentor and for a while there it looked like no one was going to sing “Jesus Christ, Superstar”. If you’re following our Twitter, you know we were bitching about this fact last night, until Carly finally strutted on stage and belted it out like the best of the Broadway he-divas.. Nevertheless, the gayest moment of the night came when David Cook went into his one-on-one time with Lloyd Weber and an awkward flirtation ensued. Clip above.

So, as we mentioned yesterday, Mariah Carey was the guest artist on this week’s American Idol and by and large, the contestants didn’t butcher her songs. Everyone we expected to be safe, was, and that annoying little horseback rider Kristy Lee Cook was sent packing. But the most exciting moment of the night was when Mariah performed! Loving her new album, E=MC2, which came out yesterday.  Mimi is also on the cover of the new Us Weekly discussing how she lost 20lbs and is down to the same size she was in 1991. That kind of upsets us, as Mariah was too skinny back then and we all know she was in a miserable marriage with Tommy Matolla. Don’t get too thin, girl, you need to have enough to weight to push out those high notes.

David Archuleta and his fake sheepishness is annoying and David Cook and his hair and the judge-worship he inspires makes us wanna barf, but goodness that lil’ dreadlocked, puka-shell wearing hottie Jason Castro makes our loins sing. Last night the American Idol contestants had to sing Mariah Carey songs, which should be tough for everyone, especially the boys. But it wasn’t tough for Jason, who broke out his guitar and strummed his way through a luau-inspired version of “I Don’t Want To Cry”. He is honestly making me reconsider my position on white-ish people with dreads. Swear to God. [American Idol]

Last night I went to dinner with a friend and her adorable four-and-a-half year old daughter Eva. I was pleasantly mortified to discover that Eva and I shared the same taste in music—we’re both really into Miley Cyrus aka Hannah Montana. I swear, as I get older, my taste in music gets more juvenile. Anyway, Eva and I dished for a while about Miley, That’s So Raven, and Zach and Cody (two other shows on the Disney Channel), before her mom and I started discussing the weird values these shows start ingraining in the little ones before they’re even old enough to read. For example, Zach and Cody are twin brothers—one of them is the smart, nerdy, “good” one, while the other is wild, naughty, and a bit of a bad boy—naturally, many, many little girls are known to like the bad boy best. Isn’t it weird how pop culture tries to get you to choose between them before you’re even in puberty?

Jason Castro, you’re the only one left representin’ hot dudes who can sing cheesy songs about love and faith and dreams. [AmericanIdol.com]

Last night was American Idol‘s “Idol Gives Back” show, in which a ton of celebs show up to encourage viewers to donate money to Idol’s charity, which distributes the funds to various amazing organizations around the U.S. and in Africa. Seriously, some of the footage shot in Africa and in some of the poorest areas of the U.S. gave our tear ducts (and our checkbooks) a work out. (We also discovered an unbelievable fondness for Miley Cyrus. Weird.) But oh my god! Heart performed with Fergie and it was friggin’ awe-some. Check out the Wilson chicks belting out “Barracuda” above. Then head over to AmericanIdol.com to get the scoop on donating to their very worthwhile cause.

I never dreamed that I’d find a guy who would want to join me for weekly manicures and pedicures; that was a chick ritual best kept for me and my friend Michelle. No husbands allowed – or desired, for that matter. I always assumed, however, that the man I’d choose to spend the rest of my life with would be interested in spending cozy weeknights curled up with me on the sofa. We’d fire up the Tivo, going rock-paper-scissors over which program we’d watch first: How I Met Your Mother or Project Runway.

American Idol is kind of testing our patience this season, because they’re going into territory that maybe they shouldn’t—i.e. the Beatles catalog and, now, bringing on our beloved Dolly Parton as a mentor. The very thought of Kristy Lee Cook warbling her way through “Coat of Many Colors” makes us want to dig out our eardrums with a spoon. But to tell you the truth, last night’s episode, in which the top nine sang Dolly’s amazing tunes, was not so bad. Even David Cook, who got a haircut, was pretty decent in his rendition of “Little Sparrow”. Thank goodness no one attempted “Islands In The Stream”, though. In any case, Brooke White, who sang “Jolene” (above) was still our favorite, mainly because she doesn’t seem like such a poseur.

Everyone is pissing themselves this morning over David Cook’s rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” on last night’s American Idol. Maybe it’s because I am still pissed they kicked Josiah off (but whatever, homeboy has a record contract with Warner Bros. now!), maybe it’s because “Billie Jean” was my favorite song when I was 5, or maybe it’s because I thought the judges had cotton in their ears when Ryan Seacrest said before the performance that David was doing Chris Cornell’s version of the song, but I couldn’t understand why they thought the dork was so “original”, “brave”, and “smart”. Also, I hate his hair. Not to mention Paula’s gloves. Ugh. [You Tube]

Yeah, we know, Jeff Buckley is sadly deceased. But that didn’t stop his cover of the Leonard Cohen tune “Hallelujah” from going to the top of the iTunes downloads chart this week did it? The song, released originally in 1984, and then re-recorded by Buckley ten years later, was performed by American Idol hopeful Jason Castro a few weeks ago and since then the song has seen a major resurgence. While it’s always been a popular song to cover, both before and after Buckley did it, to see his version leap in sales is amazing. While the original is incredible, Buckley’s version has always been a favorite. And as an artist, so was he. [JeffBuckley.com]

Kelly Clarkson explained to a reporter how a good luck charm, or lack thereof, helped her win American Idol. It wasn’t a rabbit’s foot or a four-leaf clover—her secret was safely between her legs.  Kelly goes commando!  She claims that since her panties have been gone, she’s been able to breathe and give her performances her all. But, Kelly worries she’ll be exposed as the next celebrity crotch shot victim and nobody wants a pap to smear them. Despite her fear of winding up like Britney Spears, she stands by her naked ambition, “Why’d anyone want a little thing up their butt when they can go free?” [ Star Pulse]

Dear Randy, Paula, and Simon,
Seriously, how dumb are you guys to give up on Josiah Leming, a guy who actually writes his own (amazing) songs, sings Mika’s “Grace Kelly” as an audition song, has the adorable look that teens (and, um, women) will go crazy for, and has a voice that channels some of the most popular bands making money today? And you actually let through that kid with the hair-band highlights? Out. Of. Touch.
Love,
The Frisky

I may be an American Idol addict (not to mention prone to having crushes on wussy musicians) but I rarely develop a “thing” for any of the contestants—I was never a Claymate, nor did last season’s Chris Richardson have a shot at usurping my love for Justin Timberlake. But this season, that trend may change. Meet Josiah Leming. He lives in his car! (Don’t worry, he likes it that way.) He travels from state to state, playing small bars and music halls, singing his own songs and playing the guitar. He’s barely legal, but that didn’t stop my heart from melting the second he got in front of the judges—though he’s from the South, he’s got an vaguely English twang in his voice when he sings, and is clearly influenced by cool Brit bands like Snow Patrol. We’ve often thought that AI would benefit from trying to find the next indie singer-songwriter and Josiah may be it! And by the way, if he gets tired of living in that car, I’ve got a guest bedroom he can shack up in anytime! [You Tube]

UPDATE: Catherine is officially in love. She’s watched the video twice now.

One of the contestants who made it through on last night’s episode of American Idol, was this lil’ cutie, Amy Catherine Flynn…“Amy Catherine, AC, whatevs!” Yeah. So, in addition to being a high school student, a member of the dance team, and having an great voice, Flynn also preaches abstinence. She gave her schpiel to the judges and Simon was, like, totally sold. How about you? [You Tube]

American Idol always gives us plenty of hysterical tidbits and this year has been no different. First there’s Alexis Cohen, the 23-year old glitter covered Grace Slick fan from Pennsylvania who sounded like an old Jewish grandmother; then there’s the Simon-obsessed Renaldo Lapuz who wrote a rather catchy diddy called “I Am Your Brother”; and, lastly, there’s this guy—Bruce Dickson. Bruce is a virgin, has never kissed a girl, and is not planning to until he gets married! In fact, he and his Dad each wear one part of a purity necklace, shaped like a heart and a key. When Bruce meets that one lucky lady (who’d better be as pure as he is!), Bruce’s daddy is going to give her his necklace so that now, Bruce will have the key to her heart. So, on one hand we’re majorly creeped out—we’ve never heard of fathers and sons making purity pledges! Isn’t that kind of pervy and gay? But on the flip side, it is totally nice that the completely misogynistic and sexist traditional of father’s guarding the purity of their daughters might be on its way to becoming co-ed. [YouTube]